My Second Wrestling Show!

~ edoowinnie

Most folk would probably go with

My First Wrestling Show!

but for me, my best experience lay within my second wrestling show attended. When it came to my first, I entered not really knowing what to expect but, with the second show, I was more confident in what to prepare and what to expect going in. Surprisingly, though, it also became of the more important things I’d ever done in the grand scheme of things.

Preface – October 2016

The show I ended up seeing was Refuse to Lose hosted by WhatCulture Pro Wrestling, now Defiant Wrestling. The first show I attended, also hosted by WCPW really fuelled my desire for another show and they made sure this next show would be worth the ticket. Among the names booked for Refuse to Lose included Jim Cornette, Jim Ross, Cody Rhodes, Kurt Angle and Bret Hart. Obviously, a show like this was a massive opportunity to see a lot of wrestling legends under one, relatively easy to access, roof.

At the time, I was a massive fan of WhatCulture and the personalities who worked for the site. Their YouTube videos were hilarious and their presence at the show was, for me, a big selling point of the show. Since I was still fairly new to independent wrestling, a lot of the “big names” in independent wrestling in attendance didn’t really resonate too well with me. In my first outing, I would see superstars like Will Ospreay, Noam Dar, Big Damo, Joe Hendry, Joe Coffey and Grado but, since this was probably the first real time I was watching these guys, I never really had much to say to them. With the WhatCulture YouTube channel, however, I had spent hours watching them over the last year or so and I was familiar with them to a tee. So as much as it pains me to say it, I was more excited to see the wrestling commentators more than the wrestlers themselves going into this wrestling match.

I wanted to show my appreciation for the YouTube lads and what they’d accomplished as part of WCPW. I decided to present them with some artwork by my brother Robert, who had only recently begun to really nail down his identity as a freelance artist. He had originally named his brand after a laughing box, named HarHarHarBox, but since rebranded into the more accessible, and objectively less weird, Rob-Art Downie. I commissioned him to draw me a few pictures to be presented to the WhatCulture boys at the meet and greet before the show and also keep a spare to be signed by both as a memento of the occassion.

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I noted that his business cards were very unique. He decided upon a business card that read Rob Downie with a large gap in between. Rob would then write art in a variety of different artistic ways to add a more personal touch to his interactions.

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I took a stab at it myself. Admittedly, I don’t really do art that well…

So, naturally, I ensured that he include a business card with a unique design reflecting the commission’s targets. A little added touch just for consistency’s sake above all else. I suddenly realised that, in doing this, I was promoting Robert more than I was giving a gift. I then realised that this could be an excellent opportunity to get my brother’s name out there in a unique way outside of just giving his business card to every bugger in the building.

(This was something I legitimately considered at the time but decided against due to reasons of “I’m a socially awkward moron who really shouldn’t be advertising people!”)

Ikea? I barely knew her!

I went to Newcastle on October 5th, a day before the event on an evening train. My plan of attack was, to be honest, a little busy on the day of the event. In my possession were the pictures to be given as well as a bunch of signs I had printed for the event. (See previous article for more info on those!) Unfortunately, I didn’t have space for the five picture frames required for the present in my luggage. To avoid potential breakages and, ultimately, lighten the load of carrying all this gear, I opted to pick up frames from a local Ikea which was located somewhere in Newcastle. I knew it was SOMEWHERE near Metrocentre, so I decided that was where I was headed first thing tomorrow morning. I make it to the hotel and get some shuteye for the long day ahead of me tomorrow.

Thursday Morning, the day of the show, and I awaken bright and early to catch the train to Metrocentre. The Metrocentre, if you’ve never been to Newcastle, is a massive shopping complex located to the west of Newcastle about 10 minutes away from central station. The Ikea was not in there but, in fact, a good half mile further west from the shopping centre. Also, notably, not an easy access on foot. My morning consisted of walking around several shops across 4 miles of Newcastle and, while I left pleased that I had gotten everything I needed, which included pink glow sticks for the event itself, I also needed to go back to the hotel for a nap afterwards!

Before taking that much-needed rest, I made sure that the pictures themselves were housed properly in their frames. I had commissioned the pictures to be 8x10s, a common picture size for wrestling promo pictures I thought, however I was unaware that a much more common size would’ve been A4, so they didn’t quite fit their frames. However, I was much too pleased with the finished result to worry about little things like “mounting.”

The Pre-Pre-Show

Before we continue, a funny thing happened before I went into the building for the show. While waiting in the queue, I was chatting with the fellow queue members discussing the show, showing off my signs and generally getting a feel for who was attending the show. One of them had a Scottish accent so I knew I was in good company. Everything was fine, we were talking about the stuff we were doing, until he asked:

“What college do you go to?”

“Edinburgh College, the Sighthill Campus,” I respond.

“Oh my god, THAT’S where I know you from!” he yelled, excitedly.

Apparently, in the lead up to this show, I was spotted wearing a WCPW shirt by this young man. He tried to get my attention before but, sadly, I wasn’t paying attention. The guy was also a student at Sighthill doing journalism and, in a happy turn of events, we both managed to meet in the queue of the same event. That was easily the most chance encounter I’ve had in quite a while. We took a selfie while he messaged his friend, telling him “I finally met that guy I was talking to you about!”

Anyway, on with the story.

The Gift that Keeps on Gifting

Once we made it inside, I immediately became nervous. Gift giving is something that brings out a lot of anxiety in me, for whatever reason. It’s not cripplingly bad, though. just some shaky hands, nervous tone of voice and excessive laughter at what people say. I like to think of it as a little quirk of mine but, if you know me well enough, it can give away the game a bit when I approach you fumbling in my bag shivering with anticipation to what you’re about to receive.

The one thing I always took away from these shows was just how friendly and welcoming everyone was. At the first show I went to, I can remember having very sincere, honest chats with them and, regardless of my experience with wrestling which was quite limited back then, they never made you feel stupid or less-than for what you knew. They worked with what you liked and engaged with it in a friendly discussion. I guess that’s ultimately why I made the choice to get their drawings done. It was a thank-you for helping to make an experience feel as welcoming and fun as it did.

Their responses to the pictures were extremely positive. They expressed their gratitude and said how awesome it was to be given something like this. I was so pleased to hear this that I swore that they had given me the pictures for a second there. They gladly signed my edition of the picture, shook my hand or hugged me and let me take a picture with them which, as you can tell by the picture, I was still a little goofy from the nervousness.

After that, I buzzed around for a bit still on the adrenaline of that encounter and made my way to my seat for the show. After realising that I was missing my opportunity to meet Cody Rhodes and Kurt Angle, however, I soon got up and went to see them instead.

The Show

My overall memories of the show are a little hazy but I’ll see if I can place some highlights below:

  • Minoru Suzuki had a damn brutal match with Joe Coffey.
  • A lot of crowd members behind me were a little rowdy but were soon ejected after an hour or so.
  • First ever Internet Championship match was pretty awesome, with El Ligero taking it over Travis Banks and Alberto El Patron.
  • I saw my first Table spot in person and it looked and sounded super brutal!
  • An awesome Kurt Angle vs Joe Hendry match that tore the house down.

And finally:

The Glowstick Cascade.

My Third Wrestling Show!

An unfortunate side-effect of my antics on Thursday was that I was absolutely knackered by Friday. The show was followed by another wrestling show recording for WCPW’s “Loaded” tapings, a weekly online wrestling show broadcast on YouTube.

I don’t really like to talk about this show because, unfortunately, I left the show half-way through. Now, I will emphasize, this was not due to the quality of the show. What I had seen before departing was still top class. I was just absolutely wiped from the adventure the day before. I was not a fit man, I still am not, and I needed to seriously rest up properly.

The most embarrassing thing about it was that you can actually see the moment I leave on the loaded taping in question. Also, in hindsight, it’s pretty bad that I walked out of a Trent Seven match mid-fight. Never gonna live that one down. It was a pretty good match too!

The Aftermath

Following the show, I was contacted by my brother who told me that one of the Adams had got in touch with him to praise him for his art and offer him some work for a video project that WhatCulture wanted to make. It led to a number of different videos including Superstar Diaries and a number of commissions as an offshoot of this exposure. I would later commission a number of works for some of the other personalities and a final, grand commission of some of the guys’ hottest moments in WCPW.

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Okay, it might’ve been a bit of a jab at them getting hurt all the time…

I was glad to know that my brother’s work was being appreciated. I was even happier to see him get work as a result of it. At the time, I remember thinking to myself “This could come across as a thinly-veiled attempt at advertising rather than a heartfelt gift.” It worried me that it would be seen as such but, thankfully, it was received as a genuine goodwill gesture, which it always was. I’m happy to have gone to Refuse to Lose because it started a love for independent wrestling that still goes strong today. It also, inadvertently, kick-started my brother’s art career so, in that respects, it’s a win-win!

Since then I’ve been going to a lot more shows and, with my brother working so closely with wrestling content, I even got my brother to start going to local shows as well. This is essentially why I hold my second wrestling show with such high importance. Had I not gone to it, I doubt we’d have found this common ground as easily as we did. And we’ve had a lot of fun as a result.

 

 

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Published by edoowinnie

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